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Relations between Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and US President Donald Trump have deteriorated, as evidenced by Lula's statement in an exclusive interview that he has "no relationship" with Trump.
This is the strongest signal yet that the two leaders are not on good terms. The breakdown in relations comes amidst ongoing trade tensions, as Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods in July. Trump has cited the legal prosecution against Brazil's right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro as a justification for these tariffs, despite the US's trade advantage with Brazil.
Lula described the tariffs as "eminently political" and said US consumers would be facing higher prices for Brazilian goods as a result. The tariffs imposed by Trump have hit Brazilian exports to the US, like coffee and beef, which Lula said would become more expensive: "The American people will pay for the mistakes President Trump is incurring in his relationship with Brazil."
The two leaders have never spoken directly to each other. When pushed on why he had not just tried to pick up the phone or form a relationship, President Lula said: "I never tried that call because he never wanted to have a conversation."
Trump has previously said that Lula can "call him anytime." But Lula insisted that members of the Trump Administration "do not want to talk".
He said that he had found out about the US tariffs from Brazilian newspapers.
Referring to Trump, he said that the US president "didn't communicate in a civilised manner. He just published the tariffs on his portal - on social media."
When asked how he would describe his relationship with his US counterpart he simply said: "There's no relationship."
Lula said that his poor relations with the US leader were the exception, listing how he had built relationships with former US presidents, UK prime ministers, the EU, China, Ukraine, Venezuela and "all the countries in the world".
The Brazilian president attended the World War Two anniversary celebrations in Russia this year and has not cut ties with President Putin. Asked who he had a better relationship with - Trump or Putin - he defended his ties to the latter, saying they had formed them when they had both been presidents "in previous times".
"I don't have a relationship with Trump because when Trump was elected the first time, I wasn't president. His relationship is with Bolsonaro, not Brazil," Lula responded.
He also said that if he passed Trump at next week's United Nations General assembly he would "greet him because I am a civilised citizen", but added that Trump may be "president of the United States, but he's not emperor of the world!".
